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A fully Robotic and 3D Printing solution for large scale building delivery

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3D printed buildings are on the horizon

The Evo Constructor project is developing an autonomous, mobile, robotic 3D printer that can produce entire buildings using printed layers.

Digital Economy icon Digital Economy

3D printing is now present in a wide range of industries; everything from aerospace to dentistry. Machines that build using printed layers of synthetic materials can be used to create items made to an exact specification, at the push of a button. There are clear advantages in this sort of system for the construction industry. Yet 3D printing of buildings has been difficult, particularly for projects that require building at height and at larger scales. That’s where the Horizon 2020-funded Evo Constructor (A fully Robotic and 3D Printing solution for large scale building delivery) project comes in. The project team have been working on a 3D printer capable of creating large-scale buildings, using a mobile robotic system that can adapt to the chosen environment. “For the last 50 years, the same construction methods have been applied. So we have had to start from scratch to conceive a new construction system based on the complete automation of the entire building processes,” says Daniel Lorenzo Pellico, CEO of EVOCONS Constructora and Evo Constructor project coordinator. The Evo Constructor project is creating a Robotic & 3D Printing solution for large-scale building delivery, which allows the vast majority of construction processes to be automated. Evo Constructor can produce buildings and other major civil infrastructure. “It could build a house and even an entire shopping centre,” says Pellico.

Making shapes

The fully patented design comprises a six-axis gantry robot, complete with multiple printing nozzles. The system is controlled by an advanced computer system that draws on a suite of sensors and is able to print in different areas simultaneously, to create complex geometric shapes that then form buildings. The Evo Constructor is completely automated, meaning buildings such as houses could soon be created en masse, efficiently, simply and cheaply. Wall structures created by Evo Constructor are 65 % cheaper than current manual methods. The Evo Constructor can use a range of materials, including concrete, polyurethane and any kind of material that could be transported in liquid state. This is then deposited in a specified place where it becomes a solid.

Beyond walls

“Our robot is able to go beyond the 3D printing, performing a wide variety of construction tasks, thanks to the specific tools incorporated. These tools allow the automation of processes like plastering walls, cladding and polishing, which makes it a real alternative in terms of scalability,” says Pellico. The Evo Constructor team projects the solution will reduce the human workforce by 50 %, eliminating the most precarious and dangerous parts of manual labour. Those roles that remain are specialised and safer. This reduces the negative impact of construction work on human labourers, including health and accident risks, and reduces costs for building constructors and their clients. The Evo Constructor has also been shown to reduce waste by up to 90 % compared to other 3D printing construction systems. As a result, the costs of a typical construction are lowered by around a third.

Heading for the market

The Evo Constructor project, satisfied with its prototypes so far, is moving to larger-scale tests before eventually offering the solution to international construction companies. “We are searching for public or private investors to continue the development and finally introduce it in the market,” concludes Pellico.

Keywords

Evo Constructor, 3D printing, construction, synthetic materials, civil infrastructure, automation, robotic

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